ELA7+Science+or+Fiction

toc =** Science or Fiction? **= This unit examines the genre of science fiction and related science. Like other genres studied to date, science fiction examines humanity, but often approaches characters and experiences in a futuristic context. Science fiction involves the imagining of ideas and technologies that haven't yet been invented; however, many of them may comport with our current understanding of science and technology. In addition to exploring classic and contemporary works of science fiction, students pair fictional stories with informational texts about science and astronomy. Student discussions trace the logic of various story lines, focusing on the believability of the stories read in class.

=Common Core Standards= Students will: a. Analyze stories, drama, or poems by authors who represent diverse world cultures.
 * R.1** Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
 * R.2** Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
 * R.3** Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact.
 * R.4** Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
 * R.5** Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure contributes to its meaning.
 * R.6** Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
 * R.7** Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium.
 * R.8** Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.
 * R.9** Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.
 * R.11** Recognize, interpret, and make connections in narratives, poetry, and drama, ethically and artistically to other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, eras, personal events, and situations.
 * b.** Use established criteria to classify, select, and evaluate texts to make informed judgments about the quality of the pieces.
 * W.1** Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
 * a.** Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
 * b.** Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
 * c.** Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence.
 * d.** Establish and maintain a formal style.
 * e.** Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
 * W.2** Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
 * a.** Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
 * b.** Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
 * c.** Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
 * d.** Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
 * e.** Establish and maintain a formal style
 * f.** Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
 * W.3** Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
 * a.** Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
 * b.** Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
 * c.** Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
 * d.** Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
 * e.** Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
 * W.4** Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
 * a.** Produce text that explores a variety of cultures and perspectives.
 * W.5** With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
 * W.6** Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.
 * W.9** Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
 * a.** Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literature
 * b.** Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction
 * W.10** Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
 * SL.1** Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
 * a.** Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
 * b.** Follow rules for collegial discussions, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
 * c.** Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others' questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed.
 * d.** Acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, modify their own views.
 * e.** Seek to understand other perspectives and cultures and communicate effectively with audiences or individuals from a varied backgrounds.
 * SL.2** Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.
 * SL.3** Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
 * SL.4** Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
 * SL.5** Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.
 * SL.6** Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
 * L.1** Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
 * a.** Explain the function of phrases and clauses in general and specific sentences.
 * b.** Choose among simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to signal differing relationships among ideas.
 * c.** Place phrases and clauses with a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers.
 * L.2** Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
 * a.** Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives.
 * b.** Spell correctly
 * L.3** Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
 * a.** Choose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy.
 * L.4** Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
 * a.** Use context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
 * b.** Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.
 * c.** Consult general and specialized reference materials, both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.
 * d.** Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase.
 * L.6** Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

=Suggested Student Objectives= //**SWBAT:**//
 * Determine how listening to science fiction is different than reading it;
 * Explain what makes science fiction believable;
 * Compare and contrast the settings, characters, and unusual circumstances among science fiction stories and describe the unique nature of this genre;
 * Analyze how a science fiction story evolves over the course of a text;
 * Identify and explain the author's purpose.

= Terminology/ Academic Vocabulary =
 * ** Academic Vocabulary ** |||| ** Text Based Vocabulary ** || ** ELA Vocabulary ** ||
 * plausible || alien || regressive || genre ||
 * contradict || scapegoat || tendencies || science fiction ||
 * logical || idiosyncracy || frail || fantasy ||
 * variation || teleplay || resilient || theme ||
 * aspects || script || apparatus || perspective ||
 * reflective || variation || tumultously || figurative language ||
 * explicit || stealthy || vital || literal language ||
 * valid || enlist || incriminate || paired passage ||
 * vague || camera directions ||  ||   ||
 * editing || narrator ||  ||   ||

= = =Required Texts= The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, Rod Serling, Drama (Glencoe) All Summer In A Day or The Pedestrian, Ray Bradbury, Short Story (Glencoe) What Do We Do With A Variation, Poem The International Space Station, Article Apollo 13, Article

=Suggested Additional Readings= The Giver, Lois Lowry, Novel (AG) Among the Hidden, Margaret Haddix, Novel (G) Dollhouse Murders, Betty Ren Wright ,Novel (BG) The Fun They Had, Isaac Asimov, Short Story (Glencoe) Loch Ness Monster, Nonfiction (Toolkit Texts) More People Escaping to World Less Ordinary, Nonfiction (Texts & Lessons) War of the Worlds, Orson Welles, Radio Broadcast The Hitchhiker, Lucille Fletcher, Drama Koreans Produce World's First Cloned Dog, Nonfiction (Texts & Lessons) Scientists Successfully Clone Cat, Nonfiction (Texts & Lessons) The Planets, Gustav Holst, Music Composition The King Who Reigned, Fred Gwynne, Picture Book

Although novels are listed as suggested readings, students should be assigned a novel based upon their reading level. Novels should be read independently, outside of class. Students should carry the novel back and forth to class. Novels should be used during class discussions and activities to assist students in meeting the unit's objectives. It is imperative that students be assigned a novel that is at their independent level. AG = Above Grade Level, G = Grade Level, BG = Below Grade Level. Novels can be substituted based upon resources and teacher discretion.

=Resource Links=

BestScienceFictionStories.com: The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn by Robert Silverberg

ReadWriteThink Lesson Plan: Finding the Science Behind Science Fiction through Paired Readings

ReadWriteThink Lesson Plan: Science Fiction Author Ray Bradbury

ReadWriteThink Podcast: Text Messages: Recommendations for Adolescent Readers

ReadWriteThink Lesson Plan: Star Wars Creator George Lucas

Scientific American Article: Fact or Fiction?

Discover Magazine: Science Not Fiction

Quiz: Science Fact or Fiction?

Brain Pop: Aliens, Frankenstein



=Activities=

Compare and contrast settings and experiences from the various science fiction stories read. As you read one of the science fiction novels, take notes about the elements of the story that would classify it as science fiction. Be sure to note page numbers with relevant information so you can cite the text during class discussion. Then write a well-developed paper that explains what makes science fiction a unique genre. Include at least three characteristics of the genre and examples of each. Edit your writing for the grammar conventions studied so far this year.
 * Class Discussion and Informative/Explanatory Writing**

Why doesn't Rod Serling give a name to his protagonist in "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street?" What is the significance of her anonymity? How does it add to the effectiveness of the story? Write your ideas in your journal and share with a partner prior to class discussion.
 * Class Discussion**

Pair the poem "What Do We Do with a Variation?" with any other science fiction piece.
 * Writing Task: Paired Passage**
 * In your own words, how does the speaker describe the treatment of people who are “different”? How does the speaker feel we //should// treat our differences?
 * What advice might the speaker of the poem give to the antagonist in ?
 * Choose a line from the poem and relate it to the protagonist in _.

The teacher will provide students with a written account of the public reaction to the radio broadcast, "War of the Worlds." Students will write a well composed essay answering the following questions:
 * Radio Play Critique**
 * Did the radio play hold your attention? Why or why not?
 * Which techniques were effective in making the audio "come alive?"
 * Were you invested in what happened to any of the characters? Why or why not?
 * Does this remind you of any similar stories/broadcasts you have heard?
 * What elements make the broadcast sound believable?
 * Students will use text based details in their written response.

Each movement of "The Planets" by Gustav Holst is named after a planet of the solar system. All planets except Earth are represented. Discuss what makes the music for each planet unique. take notes of your thoughts in your journal while listening to the music.
 * Music Appreciation**

Write your own science fiction story that answers the question, What if. . .? Work with peers to edit and strengthen your story before presenting it to the class. Edit your writing for the grammar conventions studied so far this year.
 * Narrative Writing and Multimedia Presentation**

Write an essay response to the essential question: What makes science fiction believable? Cite specific details from texts read. After your teacher reviews our first draft, work with a partner to strengthen your writing, and edit it for the grammar conventions studied so far this year before presenting it to the class.
 * Informative/Explanatory Writing**

Paragraph editing using "The International Space Station" article, focusing on capitalization, abbreviations, use of commas, acronyms.
 * Mechanics/Grammar**

=Assessments= Mock NYS ELA Practice Exam

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